Her Story
About Sunshine
Sunshine Gray, MSN-Ed, RN, OCN, is a radiation oncology nurse educator, oncology nursing leader, and author with more than 20 years of experience advancing cancer care, nursing education, and clinical excellence. She serves as a Clinical Nurse Educator at Fred Hutch Cancer Center, where she leads radiation oncology education across multiple clinic sites, overseeing nurse onboarding, orientation, competency development, and specialty training while continuing to maintain an active clinical practice. Her career began in pediatric bone marrow transplant nursing before expanding into adult oncology, radiation oncology, and clinical research, giving her broad expertise across the continuum of cancer care.
Driven by a passion for education and global health, Sunshine earned her Master of Science in Nursing Education and has become a recognized subject matter expert in radiation oncology nursing. She serves as Lead Nurse Educator for Rayos Contra Cancer, a nonprofit organization dedicated to expanding radiation oncology education in low- and middle-income countries, where she has helped develop and deliver curriculum reaching hundreds of nurses across Africa, South Asia, and Southeast Asia. She also contributes to the Oncology Nursing Society as a radiation oncology content expert, is authoring a chapter for the organization's forthcoming Radiation Oncology Nursing textbook, and has helped develop educational content supporting the specialty's emerging certification program.
Throughout her career, Sunshine has remained committed to improving patient outcomes through education, mentorship, and evidence-based practice while advocating for equitable access to quality cancer care worldwide. Her leadership and contributions have earned recognition through numerous professional honors, including the Herald and John Steinberg Memorial Nursing Award, the CARES Award, the STAR Award, the Outstanding Patient Educator Golden Eddie Award, and leadership recognition from the National Society of Leadership and Success. An active member of several national and international professional organizations, she is passionate about oncology nursing, social justice, and expanding educational opportunities for underserved communities, with plans to pursue doctoral studies and continue shaping the future of oncology nursing on a global scale.
Her Interview
Ten minutes with Sunshine
01What do you attribute your success to?
I'm very, very self-motivated. I need to have a big picture. I work really well under pressure, and I'm always looking for the next way to help, whether it's to help the community, or help patients, or help my family. I'm all about helping.
02What’s the best career advice you’ve ever received?
Be resourceful. Make relationships with people before you need those relationships and maintain those relationships, because it helps you build a community of support and resources, and when you don't know answers, then you know where to go for them.
03What values are most important to you in your work and personal life?
I love to read, just generally speaking, so I definitely just… I like to read. also love gardening, as most ladies my age do, so I'm very into gardening. I also am a DIYer so all of the things that we need done to our house and in our house, projects, building things, all those things I do all that stuff my husband and… well, my family is very, very, very much into music, and so we spend a lot of time going to shows, especially outdoor shows and festivals and things like that.
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